KINDERGARTEN pupils will undergo eye screening this year, Sen. Sonny Angara said as he confirmed that the 2021 budget allocated funding for the implementation of Republic Act 11358 or the National Vision Screening Act.

RA 11358, of which Angara is the principal author, provides for a National Vision Screening Program covering all kindergarten pupils aged 5 to 6.

The program aims to detect errors of refraction and amblyopia or lazy eye among young students.

The NVSP is spearheaded by the University of the Philippines’ Eye Research Institute, the Department of Health and the Department of Education.

Angara said that the Philippine General Hospital which is also under the UP System was given an additional P1.5 billion to ensure that indigent patients would be able to get free medical services for the entire year.

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance pushed for a bigger budget for the PGH in recognition of its vital role of providing medical services to the poor.

PGH services over 600,000 patients annually. It is the only national referral center for tertiary care, which is why Angara said it needs a significant amount of financial support to cater to all those who are sick or need specialized care but could not afford to go to a private hospital.

He said that the additional budget would also allow the hospital to accommodate more patients who need to undergo heart surgery.

“Heart diseases continue to be one of the leading causes of death among Filipinos and as such there are more people who need heart surgery. We are constantly looking for ways to capacitate our government hospitals to accommodate more patients with heart ailments and save lives,” Angara said.

The PGH performs heart surgery on around 50 patients annually at an average cost of P170,000 each or P8.5 million a year.

With a bigger budget, the hospital would be able to do heart surgeries on as many as 200 patients this year.

Angara said that the hospital would also be able to construct a multi-specialty facility for patients who require specialists in renal care, psychology, dermatology, neuroscience and advanced laboratory services.

It would also be able to start construction of its microbial bank that will provide further support to the hospital’s research and development activities.